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At the jail today, there were only eight ladies in the Celebrate Recovery meeting. Quite often, these small groups are the most intimate and revealing. I’ve learned that rather than follow the guidebook for every meeting and work the lesson, it is best to pray and ask God to run the meeting. What a concept, right? Today was one of those days when it was confirmed again how God knows what he is doing. We talked about the IT in recovery. People are always asking in recovery “How did you know when you got IT”. When did you realize that you had surrendered your will to God, and you were really through drinking and drugging. One young women shared about how she thought several times that she got IT. She believed she had surrendered her life to the Lord, only to relapse again and wonder what in the world happened. This women had been sober several months at a time. So we talked about the daily surrender. I was taught in the beginning to pray, “God please give me knowledge of your will for me today, and the power to carry it out”. I believe this daily surrender is the key, but we also have to deal with temptations that pop up out of the blue. Because there is such a thing as Obsession of the Mind, an alcoholic or a drug addict has but a very few seconds to make a choice. We can make a choice to call for help, immediately change whatever we are doing,. or my personal favorite “Run Forrest Run”. You see most of us sober folks have found that the second we entertain the idea to drink………it takes but only a few seconds to become an Obsession of the Mind, and we are once again off to the races. It is critical for us to make the right choice, within seconds of a temptation. The good news is that if we make the right choice, the thought goes away just as quickly as it came. Then we sit back in awe of how we actually chose not to use……

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I have a love/hate relationship with this jail. I love how we can bring hope into people who are so broken, they believe there is no hope. I hate when the hope is not received. To some women here, they have been in addiction so long they believe there is no hope, they are forever broken. One women, I will call her lacy, is 19 years old. Her momma started prostituting her out for drug money at the age of 12. She still lives with her mother, and has three children. Her mother has custody of the children and therefore lacy believes she holds all the cards. In many ways I’m sure she is right. Lacy planned to go back to her mothers home after being released. If nothing changes, nothing changes…Lacy was released early this year, I haven’t heard or seen her since. How do we give women like this hope? It has to be more than words, must use our hands and feet. I pray that not another women leaves this jail, without knowing that she can turn to me or another believer to be “hands and feet” Just a question to ponder….Is there someone in your life who gave you a “leg up” and it changed your life? Would you like to share your story?